Lifeboat Foundation

And you thought needles were scary: Researchers are using scorpion venom to transport drugs to the brain.

The Peptides and Proteins lab at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) modified the amino acid chain chlorotoxin—present in scorpion venom—to carry medicine across humans’ blood-brain barrier (BBB).

An important mechanism for protecting the brain from harmful substances, the roadblock also prevents medication used to treat neurological diseases and tumors from entering the organ.

Continue reading “Scorpion Venom Shuttles Drugs to the Brain” »

Store some stem cells for a rainy day.

Cancer will become easier to detect and diagnose early using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) thanks to A*STAR researchers who have engineered biocompatible iron oxide nanoparticle contrast agents¹.

A new technique to study intact parts of cell membranes could revolutionise studies of cancer, metabolic and heart diseases.

Nebula Genomics Aims To Speed Research And Lower Cost Of Genome Sequencing : Shots — Health News A full genome sequence costs about $1,000. But Nebula Genomics expects that companies and researchers would defray the cost in exchange for key medical information about the person involved.

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About 15 years ago, UNC Lineberger’s Dale Ramsden, Ph.D., was looking through a textbook with one of his students when they stumbled upon a scientific mystery.

A small line in the book indicated that a protein that helps repair major breaks in our genetic code did so by adding DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, as expected. However, there were hints that it could also add RNA, or ribonucleic acid, at least in a test tube. It seemed unlikely that this would occur during repair of DNA in living cells, since RNA is normally used only as a messenger to carry information from the genetic code to make proteins.

Continue reading “By solving a mystery of gene repair, scientists uncover an exception to biology’s rules” »

A molecule produced during fasting or calorie restriction has anti-aging effects on the vascular system, which could reduce the occurrence and severity of human diseases related to blood vessels, such as cardiovascular disease, according to a study led by Georgia State University.

It is predicted that artificial intelligence (AI) will transform many aspects of our life including healthcare and genomics. AI and machine learning have helped us to understand the genome of organisms and will potentially change the way we treat disease, determine effective drugs and edit genes.

Kidney organoids — miniature organs grown in the lab — recently went “rogue,” producing brain cells and muscle cells alongside the expected kidney cells.